Abstract
Perform the cross-cultural equivalence of the Brazilian version of the Levels of Speech Usage (LSU) self-report categorical rating scale. First, the LSU was translated into Brazilian Portuguese by three speech-language pathologists fluent in English. Next, a back-translation was performed by another speech-language pathologist. A committee of speech-language pathologists compared the translated protocol with its original version and approved it with the name LSU-Br. The Brazilian Portuguese version also contains five answer options: "restrito" (undemanding), "eventual" (intermittent), "frequente" (routine), "intenso" (extensive), and "extremo" (extraordinary) from which only one must be chosen considering the speech usage of the individual in the past year, and the response chosen is the protocol result. A total of 31 individuals responded to the LSU-Br. The option "does not apply" was added in order to identify any questions that could be misunderstood by the target population or that were not appropriate to the Brazilian culture. Thirty-one individuals answered the protocol. No cultural or conceptual barriers were founded. The cross-cultural equivalence between the Levels of Speech Usage scale and its Brazilian version (LSU-Br) was verified. Validation of the LSU-Br is under progress.
Highlights
The self-assessment protocols of speech usage validated for Brazilian Portuguese to date do not involve individual perception regarding the use of voice regardless of occupational use or issues associated with unpleasant sensations during phonation[1]
Some protocols were carefully studied by Baylor et al[1] with the objective of filling these gaps and creating the Levels of Speech Usage (LSU) rating scale so that behavioral aspects related to speech could be explored and the real use of the voice perceived by each patient could be presented through the protocol results
Achieving cross-cultural equivalence is the first stage in the validation of protocols, and it is essential that no barriers between the instrument and its target population exist in different countries, so that possible sociocultural differences between cultures and languages can be resolved and the instrument does not become a mere literal translation of its original
Summary
METHODSThe self-assessment protocols of speech usage validated for Brazilian Portuguese to date do not involve individual perception regarding the use of voice regardless of occupational use or issues associated with unpleasant sensations during phonation[1].Some protocols were carefully studied by Baylor et al[1] with the objective of filling these gaps and creating the Levels of Speech Usage (LSU) rating scale so that behavioral aspects related to speech could be explored and the real use of the voice perceived by each patient could be presented through the protocol results.The proposed protocol has a higher level of comprehensiveness than, for instance, the Professional Voice Users Classification Scale in Four Levels: level I - elite vocal performers such as professional singers and actors; level II - professional voice users, e.g., clergymen and lecturers; level III - non-vocal professionals such as lawyers; level IV - non-vocal professionals who do not need to use the voice to work, e.g.,laborers and salesclerks[2]. Other protocols show cutoff values of the voice usage level[1,3,4] but with some limitations, as listed ahead: 1- Studies addressing patients with voice changes under speech therapy, excluding individuals with communication disorders such as dysarthria, aphasia, apraxia, and dysfluency, as well as individuals that do not present any communication disorder, restricting the target population of the protocols; 2- Scales that focus on vocal demands in occupational activities, excluding their use in other environments and activities that may contribute to increased speech usage; 3- Some instruments that, focusing on occupational demand, are not concerned with the different levels of vocal demand observed in the same population; 4- Instruments that depend on clinical judgment, considering that protocols are often filled by professionals, and the use of the patient’s voice may not be dully represented In this context, the importance of the patients’ self-evaluation of their own speech is highlighted, and it can be highly informative to identify the treatment objectives and evaluate their own progress[1]. Use a categoria abaixo que melhor te descreve. in a different way
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